Footwear tongue protuberance device and method

ABSTRACT

A footwear tongue protuberance system including a shoe; a tongue; and a polyurethane foam material. The footwear tongue protuberance system has the footwear tongue protuberance assembly; wherein the footwear tongue protuberance assembly is in function combination the shoe, the tongue, and the polyurethane foam material. The tongue has an inner layer of polyurethane foam material between front layer and back layer of the tongue to prevent foot slippage and injury without adding bulk to the shoe.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This application claims benefit under 35 USC 119 to Canada NationalApplication No. 3,021,950 filed on Oct. 24, 2018, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The followingincludes information that may be useful in understanding the presentdisclosure. It is not an admission that any of the information providedherein is prior art nor material to the presently described or claimedinventions, nor that any publication or document that is specifically orimplicitly referenced is prior art.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to the field of boots, shoes,and leggings of existing art and more specifically relates to boots,shoes, and leggings, including tongue pieces, form-fitting interior,foot-supporting or foot-conforming feature.

RELATED ART

The tongue of a shoe is what keeps shoes on a wearer's feet. Tongues maybe found on virtually any footwear with laces. Tongues protect the topof the foot. Also, tongues prevent shoe laces from rubbing against thefoot. If the tongue is not kept in place, or the laces are not tiedproperly, the wearer can sustain foot injury. Further, the wearer mayexperience uncomfortable and ill-fitting shoes. Current tongues containa single strip of material. Additionally, single strip tongues causeshoe slippage and possible injury to the foot or toes, especially animpact leading to damage and potential loss of toenails. An improvedtongue protuberance is needed.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,938,360 to Roger Hsiano-ChingFangJoseph, Ho Pin Linrelates to an athletic shoe with inflatable tongue. The describedathletic shoe with inflatable shoe includes an athletic shoe having aninflatable tongue which can be slightly deflated or inflated afterlacing up or otherwise closing the shoe to conform to the user's footand the lacing to provide a more comfortable fit of the shoe. The tongueincludes an inner bladder of an expandable foam material with a valve onthe tongue fluidly communicating the exterior of the tongue with theinterior of the bladder to selectively inflate and deflate the same uponintroduction and release of air to the bladder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known boots,shoes, and leggings art, the present disclosure provides a novelfootwear tongue protuberance. The general purpose of the presentdisclosure, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, isto provide a footwear tongue protuberance to prevent foot slippage andinjury, and in particular to prevent foot slippage within the shoecausing damage to the toes and toenails, including loss of the toenails.

A footwear tongue protuberance system assembly is disclosed hereincomprising a shoe; a tongue; and a polyurethane foam material. Thefootwear tongue protuberance system comprises a footwear tongueprotuberance assembly; wherein the footwear tongue protuberance assemblycomprises in function combination the shoe, the tongue, and thepolyurethane foam material. The tongue comprises an inner layer ofpolyurethane foam material (e.g. high-density memory foam or the like)between the front layer and the back layer of the tongue to prevent footslippage and injury. The cushioning element is in the bottom half of thetongue, and is generally ‘squarish’, thickest in the center and taperingoff towards the edges like that of a square throw pillow. Additionally,the bottom half of the tongue where the cushioning element is locatedmay be wider than a standard tongue to enable coverage over a greatersection of the beginning of the bridge of the foot. Thus, the start ofthe additional foam is at the end of the tongue that is attached to theshoe, corresponding roughly in alignment to the location of the ball ofthe foot. The thickest part of the cushioning is around the middle ofthe front half of the foot arch, and it has tapered off by roughly themidpoint of the tongue, corresponding to the peak of the arch of thefoot.

A method of use for the footwear tongue protuberance system is alsodisclosed herein: the method comprising the steps of: providing a shoe;a tongue; and a polyurethane foam material; using the footwear tongueprotuberance to prevent foot slippage and injury, particularly to thetoes and toenails.

For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages,and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is tobe understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achievedin accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus,the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achievesor optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught hereinwithout necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught orsuggested herein. The features of the invention which are believed to benovel are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in theconcluding portion of the specification. These and other features,aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become betterunderstood with reference to the following drawings and detaileddescription.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures which accompany the written portion of this specificationillustrate embodiments and methods of use for the present disclosure, afootwear tongue protuberance system, constructed and operative accordingto the teachings of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view and cutaway view of the footwear tongueprotuberance system ready for an ‘in-use’ condition, according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the footwear tongue protuberance systemof FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the footwear tongue protuberance systemof FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is another perspective view of the footwear tongue protuberancesystem of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The various embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter bedescribed in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein likedesignations denote like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As discussed above, embodiments of the present disclosure relate toboots, shoes, and leggings and more particularly to a footwear tongueprotuberance as used to prevent foot slippage and injury. In particular,the footwear tongue protuberance may act to prevent foot slippage withinthe shoe causing damage to the toes and toenails, including loss of thetoenail

Referring now more specifically to the drawings by numerals ofreference, there is shown in FIGS. 1-4, various views of a footweartongue protuberance system 100.

FIG. 1 shows a footwear tongue protuberance system 100, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure, both as a shoe and as a cutawayview showing a foot inside a shoe. Here, the footwear tongueprotuberance system 100 may be beneficial for use by a wearer to preventfoot slippage and injury to toes and toenails. As illustrated, thefootwear tongue protuberance system 100 may comprise: a footwear tongueprotuberance assembly 104 including: a shoe 110; a tongue 112 with anincreased width and depth; and a polyurethane foam material 114 (e.g.memory foam or other suitable equivalent). The footwear tongueprotuberance system 100 comprises the footwear tongue protuberanceassembly 104. The footwear tongue protuberance assembly 104 comprises infunction combination the shoe 110, the tongue 112, and the polyurethanefoam material 114. The tongue 112 comprises an inner layer ofpolyurethane foam material 114 between the front layer 113 and the backlayer 115 of the tongue 112 to prevent foot slippage and injury to thetoes and toenails. Using high-density memory foam or the like for layer114 helps to provide support and comfort without increasing the bulk ofthe shoe, ideally resulting in a fit where the shoe feels more integralto the foot.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-4 showing various views of the footwear tongueprotuberance system 100 of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

As illustrated, the footwear tongue protuberance system 100 comprisesthe tongue 112 located under the laces of a shoe 110 and the tongue 112is attached to vamp of the shoe. The tongue 112 of the footwear tongueprotuberance system 100 sits on top of the center portion of the shoe110 located near the beginning of the bridge of the foot. The tongue 112contains a fixed lower end and free upper end. The tongue 112 of theshoe 110 comprises a fabricated material upper and lower portion. Thetongue 112 of the shoe 110 attaches under eyelets of laces. The tongue112 provides for adjustment of fit of the shoe 110 to a foot. The tongue112 of the shoe 110 comprises an inner layer of polyurethane foammaterial 114 (e.g. high-density memory foam). The cushioning element isin the bottom third to half of the tongue 112, and is generally‘squarish’, in preferred embodiments, thickest in the center andtapering off towards the edges like that of a square throw pillow. Thus,the start of the additional foam is near the fixed end of the tongue 112that is attached to the shoe 110, corresponding roughly in alignment tothe location of beginning of the bridge of the foot and the ball of thefoot. The thickest part of the cushioning is over the first third of thetongue 112, covering approximately the front bridge of the foot (e.g.around the middle of the front half of the foot arch), and it hastapered off by roughly the midpoint of the tongue 112, corresponding tothe end of the bridge of the foot (e.g. the peak of the arch of thefoot).

The inner layer of polyurethane foam material 114 of the tongue 112rests under laces in a relative center of a foot and serves to cushionand protect the foot from slippage. The inner layer of polyurethane foammaterial 114 of the tongue 112 is enveloped by front layer 113 and backlayer 115. The inner layer of polyurethane foam material 114 of thetongue 112 provides cushioning and support to the beginning of thebridge of the foot. The polyurethane foam material 114 of the tongue 112prevents sliding forward movement of a foot and prevents laces fromrubbing against a foot. Additionally, the inner layer of polyurethanefoam material 114 of the tongue 112 eliminates discomfort in the footand prevents toe and toenail injury by preventing slipping of the footduring active use via the increased cushioning and support of the frontof the bridge of the foot.

The embodiments of the invention described herein are exemplary andnumerous modifications, variations and rearrangements can be readilyenvisioned to achieve substantially equivalent results, all of which areintended to be embraced within the spirit and scope of the invention.Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially thescientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiarwith patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from acursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure ofthe application.

1. A footwear tongue protuberance system comprising: a footwear tongueprotuberance assembly including: a shoe; a tongue with increased widthand depth; and a polyurethane foam material; wherein said footweartongue protuberance system comprises said footwear tongue protuberanceassembly; wherein said footwear tongue protuberance assembly comprisesin function combination said shoe, and said tongue; and wherein saidtongue comprises an inner layer of polyurethane foam material between afront layer and a back layer of said tongue.
 2. The footwear tongueprotuberance system of claim 1 wherein said shoe comprises said tonguelocated under laces of said shoe.
 3. The footwear tongue protuberancesystem of claim 1 wherein said shoe comprises said tongue attached tovamp of said shoe.
 4. The footwear tongue protuberance system of claim 1wherein said shoe comprises said tongue which sits on top center portionof said shoe.
 5. The footwear tongue protuberance system of claim 1wherein said tongue of said shoe sits on top of a bridge of a foot. 6.The footwear tongue protuberance system of claim 5 wherein said tongueof said shoe contains a fixed lower end and a free upper end.
 7. Thefootwear tongue protuberance system of claim 1 wherein said tongue ofsaid shoe comprises a fabricated material upper and lower portion. 8.The footwear tongue protuberance system of claim 1 wherein said tongueof said shoe attaches under eyelets of laces.
 9. The footwear tongueprotuberance system of claim 1 wherein said tongue provides foradjustment of fit of said shoe to a foot.
 10. The footwear tongueprotuberance system of claim 1 wherein said tongue of said shoecomprises said inner layer of polyurethane foam material.
 11. Thefootwear tongue protuberance system of claim 1 where said inner layer ofpolyurethane foam material of said tongue rests under laces in arelative center of a foot.
 12. The footwear tongue protuberance systemof claim 1 wherein said inner layer of polyurethane foam material ofsaid tongue provides cushion to the beginning of the bridge of a foot.13. The footwear tongue protuberance system of claim 1 wherein saidpolyurethane foam material of said tongue prevents sliding forwardmovement of a foot.
 14. The footwear tongue protuberance system of claim1 wherein said polyurethane foam material of said tongue prevents lacesfrom rubbing against a foot.
 15. The footwear tongue protuberance systemof claim 1 wherein said polyurethane foam material of said tongueeliminates discomfort in a foot.
 16. The footwear tongue protuberancesystem of claim 1 wherein said polyurethane foam material of said tongueprevents foot slippage and consequent toe and toenail injury.
 17. Afootwear tongue protuberance system comprising: a footwear tongueprotuberance assembly including: a shoe; a tongue with increased widthand depth; and a polyurethane foam material; wherein said footweartongue protuberance system comprises said footwear tongue protuberanceassembly; wherein said footwear tongue protuberance assembly comprisesin function combination said shoe, and said tongue; wherein said shoecomprises said tongue located under laces of said shoe; wherein saidshoe comprises said tongue attached to a vamp of said shoe; wherein saidtongue of said shoe sits on top of a bridge of a foot; wherein saidtongue of said shoe contains a fixed lower end and a free upper end;wherein said tongue of said shoe attaches under eyelets of laces;wherein said polyurethane foam material of said tongue prevents slidingforward movement of a foot; wherein said polyurethane foam material ofsaid tongue prevents toe and toenail injury; and wherein said tonguecomprises an inner layer of polyurethane foam material between a frontlayer and a back layer of said tongue.